When the Snow was White
by Pojo-san
Summary: Snow noun : a precipitation in the form of ice crystals formed directly from the freezing of the water vapor in the air. That's all it is to him. It means nothing, yet he still remembers when the snow used to be white. Oneshot winter fic


Hello everyone, Pojo-san here. Here's my new oneshot winter fanfic. Originally this was going to be a Christmas fic, but as you can see Christmas already came and went. Anyway This is actually quite a short oneshot. It's only 7 pages long on Word and it has about 3,000 words. This probably the shortest fanfic I've written so far. I mean my A Day to Remember one was what? 10,000 words and 21 pages? Anyway, I dedicate this oneshot to my dear friend, Husky-fox, who beta read this. You are awesome. I heart you!

Disclaimer: I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist. Plain and simple.

Warnings: umm... -starts reading- maybe some very mild violence?

Rating: K+ for people age 9 and older

Have fun!

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When the Snow Was White

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The chilly air bit his nose and ears harshly as he walked quickly through the streets. The moon slid in and out of the dark clouds that gently blanketed the sky. A gust of wind blew right through him and he shuttered violently. The metal clanging footsteps behind him picked up their pace until he heard them right next to him.

"Brother, we don't have to go if you don't want to," said Alphonse, his voice echoed around inside of his hollow metal body. Edward cracked a small smile at his younger yet taller brother.

"It's fine, Al," said Edward nonchalantly. "Besides you really wanted to go to the party. If you can take a little cold," He lifted his right hand out of his pocket, the joints off his arm moved stiffly, and rasped the metal knuckles of his prosthetic limb against the chest plate of Al's body. "Then I can take the cold." He winced slightly at the pain in his shoulder from the joint socket of his automail. He quickly placed it back in the pocket of his red overcoat. He turned a street corner and saw a bridge. It expanded over a waterway that ran into the sewers. As the two brothers began to cross the bridge, Alphonse spoke again.

"That's only because I'm a seven foot tall suit of armor," said Al solemnly. Ed stopped in his tracks, and Al stopped a few feet ahead of him. Al turned around quickly and saw a sad look flutter across Ed's eyes.

"You do know that I'm sorry about that right?" said Ed in a slightly pleading tone as he stared into the ruby red eyes of his brother. Al placed thick leather hand on Ed's shoulder.

"And you do know that I've forgiven you right?" he said. The sincerity rang loudly in his voice. Ed shook his head and let it hang slightly.

"I still don't understand why though," said Edward sadly. His shoulder was shook roughly.

"Hey, I will have none of that! Not today!" said Al in a mock angry tone that made Ed chuckle. He patted Al's hand before another shutter racked his body. "If the cold is bothering your automail maybe we should turn back. I can even carry you." He could almost see the metal around his brother's eyes furrow with worry. Al's shoulders were hunched slightly forward to emphasize his concern.

"We're already over halfway there. There's no point in turning back now. I also don't need to be carried. Let me keep my dignity." Ed gave him a grin as he shook his head in exasperation, his ponytail swished side to side like a horse's tail.

"You have too much pride, brother," said Al. "There's nothing wrong with asking for help every now and then."

"Hey, I ask for help!" said Ed as he huffed defiantly.

"Oh, yeah? You remember three weeks ago when we were doing a raid on that den of smugglers?"

"What about it?" Ed eyed his brother suspiciously and folded his arms across his chest.

"There were over thirty of them in there with guns, and you busted in there, alchemy blazing, before the Colonel could even call for some back up. All the while you were saying that you had everything under control."

"I did have everything under control!"

"Unless you call running back out the front door you just came through control than you're a master."

Ed growled slightly at him before he said angrily, "Let's go, we don't want to be late to the Winter Party." He stepped past Al, and wanted to storm off before he heard his brother gasp.

"Brother, look! It's snowing," Alphonse said in awe. Ed looked up towards the black sky and saw white spots falling softly in the sharp air. He watched one snowflake in particular as it floated, swirled, and twisted, as if it was dancing, towards the ground. It spun in front of his face, and he pulled out a hand from his pocket to capture it. It fell happily and gently into the palm of his hand. He held it up to his face, being careful not to breathe his hot breath on it, and examined it. The web of ice proudly displayed its delicate crystal-like wonders to him. He pushed it around as gently as he could with one of his fingers, but there was a faint _crack_ as he accidentally broke the fragile creation. It soon melted into water, and its icy remains seeped into the fabric of his glove. He sighed. He did not care too much for snow anymore. He remembered when he was a child how snow used to excite him since Resembool was always such a warm town because it was so far south. He does not feel that excitement anymore. To him, snow was nothing more than just some blobs of ice falling from the sky.

"Look at that," he heard Al say from behind from. He turned around and saw that Al was pointing out over the water. The crescent moon hung in the sky like a white ornament with a lopsided arch of clouds above it. The moonlight outlined the white flakes that fell from the clouds in silver. Edward walked to the railing of the bridge and leaned against it. He heard his brother walk up right next to him to peer at the sight. "It's beautiful isn't it?"

Ed nodded and then said, "Yeah it is." He propped up his arm onto the railing, and rested his chin on his palm. The snow brought him back through the years when their mother was still alive during one of those rare times that it snowed in Resembool.

---

_Ed was fast asleep in his bed with Alphonse curled up right next to him. He blearily opened his eyes and let loose a large yawn as he sat up slowly. Al stirred slightly on the bed. Ed rubbed his eyes as he reached over to shake his younger brother._

"_Time to get up," said Ed. Al swatted his hand away._

"_Just a few more minutes," mumbled Al. Ed shook him harder before Al grudgingly sat up as well. Ed slid off of the bed. He shivered when his feet touched the cold wooden floor. He left the room with Al close behind him like a duckling following its mother. Trisha was at the stove of their small kitchen making breakfast while humming a small tune to herself. Al walked to her and grabbed a fistful of her dress in his tiny hand. She smiled at him and she patted his head. Her hand waved at Ed to come closer and once he was within arm's length she gave him a pat on the head as well._

"_Are you two ready for some pancakes?" she asked tenderly to which they both nodded at. "Alright go sit at the table." Soon all three of them were sitting at the medium sized oak table, eating their morning meals. Ed and Al were fully awake by then, and were having an excited discussion about what they were going to do that day. Trisha watched her two sons with a smile on her face as their plans unfolded right in front of her._

I wish you can see them,_ she thought. _They've grown up so much, and Ed looks so much like you, Hoenheim._ Her eyes wondered towards the window, and something white caught her attention. She got up from the table and walked over to the window. Edward and Alphonse stopped talking and watched their mother._

"_Mom, what is it?" asked Ed. She looked over her shoulder at them with a smile on her face as she pointed out of the window._

"_It's starting to snow," she said. Her sons scrambled off of their chairs and ran towards the window. Sure enough, a white sheet of snow was pouring thickly onto the ground._

"_It never snowed here before," said Al thoughtfully._

"_Oh, it has before. Both of you were just too young to remember it."_

"_Can we go outside? Please?" asked Ed as he jumped up and down excitedly. The moment that she nodded her approval they both ran upstairs to change into warmer clothes. When they came back down Trisha was blocking the front door._

"_Now, I don't want you two wondering off too far," said Trisha as she buttoned Ed's coat. "The farthest you can go is to the Rockbell's and that's it. And stay together. Do you understand?"_

"_We do," said Alphonse and Edward in unison._

"_Okay," she said as she straightened up with a smile on her face. "Remember, not to stay out for too long." She opened the door, and her children ran into the white wonderland._

"_We should build a snowman," said Al as he bent over to gather snow into his mittens._

"_You dummy," said Ed as he jumped into the air to catch a snowflake. "There's not enough snow on the ground yet." He pointed at the ground which was covered in a fine layer of snow. Al frowned slightly at that before his face brightened up. He took off one of his mittens and drew in the snow with his index finger. He drew a quick and simple circle with a second circle within it. He then drew two triangles, both facing in the opposite direction of the other, on top of each other. He slid the mitten back onto his hand, and placed both of his palms face down on his circle. There was a small flash of yellow light and the snow disappeared. What stood in its place was a small snowman that was two inches tall and made out of solid ice. The body and head was smooth, and two lumps on its head served as eyes while a cone protruding from its face became a nose. It had a transparent scarf around its neck, a battered looking stovepipe hat rested on its head, and two thin pieces of ice branches served as its arms. Al smiled proudly at himself._

"_That's not a snowman," said Ed and Al whipped around to face him._

"_Why not?" asked Al angrily._

"_Because it's not made out of snow."_

_Al huffed at him before he said, "Well, then it's an _iceman_." Edward surveyed his brother's work. He then started to gather some snow into a small mound behind Al's iceman. He drew the same circle on top of the mound and touched it. The alchemy flared briefly before it revealed a second iceman that was larger than its partner. It was about four inches tall, and was leaning over the first one with its claw like hands curled menacingly. It had a wild look in its eye and its maw opened to show off its mouth full of fangs. It looked like it was ready to pounce and devour the unsuspecting iceman. Al stared at Ed's creation with shock._

"_There we go," said Ed as he got up from his kneeling position. "That looks better."_

"_Get rid of it," said Al._

"_Why?"_

"_Because I don't want it hurting my iceman!" Ed raised his eyebrow._

"_It's not hurting it," he said in a confused tone._

"_Well, it looks like it." Al's lip jutted out slightly as he stared worriedly at his iceman. Ed sighed._

"_Alright, I'll change it." Ed drew another circle into the snow that started to gather again around the icemen. After another flare of yellow, a new iceman emerged from the smoke that was identical to Al's. "There, happy now?" Al nodded his okay._

"_Let's go to Winry's," said Al as he hurried out of the yard and down the road. Ed shook his head and followed Al's retreating form._

_They ran out onto the country road. Their boots made footprints in the snow. They soon saw a two story house in the distance that had steps leading up to the front door. On those steps was a small girl with shoulder length blonde hair. Her blue eyes stared at her shoes and her face was resting on her hands. She let out a small sigh. Her grandmother made her go outside saying that she should enjoy the snow while it lasted. She didn't want to but her grandmother insisted, so now she sat on the steps of their deck, moping. She didn't want to play in the snow. A crunching sound met her ears, and she looked up. She saw the figures of her two closest friends, Alphonse and Edward. They ran up to her with smiles on their faces._

"_Winry, do you want to play?" asked Ed with a large grin on his face._

"_No," Winry said sadly. The smile on both of her friends' faces fell._

"_What's wrong?" asked Al worriedly. _

_Winry sighed before she said, "I just wish that my parents were here to see this." Her voice trailed off as she thought about them. It had been three months since she had received the news that her parents were killed in the Ishbalan War. The wounds had never healed. She had holed herself up in her house for weeks, and refused to talk to anyone. Ed and Al would periodically go over to her house to see her, but Winry would just lock herself in her room until they left. It wasn't until her grandmother, Pinako, forced her out of the house last month that she started to go back to school. Suddenly, she felt something cold and wet hit her face. Winry let out a sharp gasp and hurriedly rubbed her face to get the snow off. She glared at Ed who still had his hand up from throwing snow at her._

"_You meanie!" she yelled before she jumped off the steps and started to chase after him with Al right behind her. "I'm going to get you!" She bent down to scoop up some snow and lobbed it at Ed's retreating back. She missed and he taunted her._

"_You throw like a girl," Ed taunted, and stuck his tongue out at her. She made another snow ball. This time she hit him on the back of his head. He momentarily lost his balance, and Winry took advantage of it. She tackled him to the ground. She sat on top of him, and began to beat his arms and chest with her tiny fists. Winry was panting when she was done and stood up. Al was grinning at her, and she felt her irritation flare slightly._

"_What are you smiling at?" she asked._

"_It's just nice to see the old Winry back," said Al as Edward sat up; the back of his coat was sprinkled with white. Winry blinked in confusion._

"_You need to stop being depressed all the time," said Ed as he hoisted himself up back onto his feet. "We've missed you." Guilt washed over Winry. She realized then that she had been pushing her two best friends out of her life without knowing it. They had been worried about her the whole time. She nervously shuffled from foot to foot as she stared down at her hands._

"_I'm sorry," she said and another snowball hit her in the face. She glared angrily at Ed._

"_Stop being sad," said Ed as he bent down to make another snowball. "We don't like it." Winry rushed over to him, and pushed him over with all of her might. When he landed on the ground, Winry threw snow at him. Al laughed at the sight before him and he ladled some snow into his hands. He threw it at his brother. They had a snowball fight until they were all too cold and tired to continue. When they entered the Rockbell house they smelled beef, broth, and steamed vegetables coming from the kitchen._

"_I figured you guys would be hungry," said Pinako loudly so they could hear her from the front door. She was a tiny woman who was only slightly taller than the children. She had to stand on a step stool to reach the counter of the open kitchen. She had a large pot on the wood burning stove. A spoon was in her hand, and she stirred the stew that was cooking as she barley opened the cupboard that held the bowls with the other. "Come and get it while it's still hot." Ed, Al, and Winry hurried to take off their coats and boots. After they finished eating lunch, they stayed indoors and played some card games while Pinako worked on an automail leg for one of her clients. When the sun started to go down she called the boys._

"_Shouldn't you two be going home?" she asked as she tightened a bolt. "Your mother must be wondering where you are." Al looked out the window to find the sun was almost completely sunk in the horizon. He also noticed that it had stopped snowing._

"_Ed we should get home," said Al. He set down his cards. Ed sighed._

"_Yeah, you're right," Ed said. The both put their winter outerwear back on, said good bye, and started the trek to their home. The snow had stopped falling, and the snowfall that had accumulated on the ground was melting. Ed kicked a small snow mound that was still trying to melt away. When he looked up he saw a spot of light flashing in the distance. The light seemed to cut through the enveloping darkness, and was brighter than the receding sunlight. Their mother was calling them._

"_Race ya!" yelled Alphonse as he took off down the road and Edward raced after him._

---

"Brother?" said Al in a confused tone. Ed pulled himself out of his reprieve, and back into reality.

"You say something?" asked Ed as he lifted his head from it rested position on his hand.

"I said we should probably get going so that you don't catch a cold," said Al.

"Oh, yeah." He noticed his younger brother staring at him, and he felt his eyebrow twitch in annoyance. "What?"

"Are you alright? You were spaced out for a long time," Al trialed off at the end of his sentence. The snow started to fall harder now, and the moon was covered up in a veil of clouds.

"I'm fine. Just thinking." Ed pushed away from the railing, and plunged his hands back into his pockets. "We should get going so that the snow can't get on your seal." He heard Al's metal head clink as he nodded in agreement. They walked off the bridge quickly as the snowstorm started to pick up. "Hey, Al," said Edward when they reached the corner to turn left onto a street that would lead them straight to Hughes home, which was where the party was being held.

"Yes, brother?" asked Al.

"Race ya!" Ed darted off down the street with a stunned Al watching him.

"Hey, no fair!" called out Al as he sprinted down the road. The snow fell quietly around them.

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I've added in the --- to separate the past and present so y'all wouldn't get confused. Anyway, please tell me what you think. Please log in and leave a review because feedback would be greatly appreciated. If you like my writing feel free to check out my other stories. My most popular ones so far have been my other oneshot called A Day to Remember, and my multi-chapter one, Deus Ex Machina. Also check out the "Story Update" section of my profile to get the latest info on the progress of any of my oneshots or stories. So you later! -starts singing as she walks off- "Sandmann, Sandmann, mach die Lichter aus, die Wahrheit ist grausam, drum schenk mir einen Traum. Sandmann, Sandmann, komm zu mir nach Haus, streu mir Sand in meine Augen und weck mich nie wieder auf."


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